By Jennifer Ablan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc (N:BLK), Legg Mason Inc (N:LM), Federated Investors Inc (N:FII) and Janus Capital Group Inc (N:JNS) could see "better" fixed-income flows if investors keep fleeing Pimco in the wake of the departure of Bill Gross, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said in a note on Wednesday.
KBW managing director Robert Lee and analyst Andrew Donnantuono said the "Bill Gross effect" triggered some late second quarter inflows into BlackRock and Legg Mason and possibly Federated Investors. "Going forward, these firms, as well as Janus, could see better fixed income flows should PIMCO suffer outflows in the wake of Gross's departure."
Gross, one of the bond market's most renowned investors, quit Pacific Investment Management Co for distant rival Janus Capital Group Inc on Sept. 26. He was expected to be fired the next day from the firm he helped found more than 40 years ago.
The BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities fund saw more than $1 billion (0.62 billion pounds)of inflows since Gross' departure through Oct. 3, according to Morningstar data on Tuesday. The fund is classified as an unconstrained portfolio with flexibility to invest in all types of bond securities globally and often invest in credit rather than interest-rate sensitive assets.
Morningstar senior analyst Eric Jacobson said BlackRock is in an "excellent position to benefit from Pimco's pain" and added that unconstrained funds are "all the rage right now, and the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities fund has built a very nice record thus far."
Janus Capital Group's Global Unconstrained Bond Fund
Total net assets in the fund, which Gross took over this week, rose to $79.13 million at the end of September, a jump from $12.86 million at the end of August.
That said, Lee and Donnantuono said to some degree, "we think the Gross saga supports the trend towards indexing and could have the effect of further pushing some investors away from active strategies.
"In general, the drama may drill home to many investors and advisors the risk that many active strategies face when talented managers decide, for whatever reason, to leave. We think this could simply cause more investors to try to minimize manager risk by indexing," they said.
(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by David Gregorio)